Who Are You, Really?
by Kaarie X
Summary: "Have you ever noticed how little we know about Jansen. . .?" "Well. . . I've actually always wondered about him. I was just hoping that you knew something. And it's also kind of strange that I know plenty about the rest of you, but nothing about him. I can practically list the most important details of each of your lives from before we even met, but not Jansen's."
1. A Restless King

He thought it was strange, having the title of 'King.' Especially considering where he came from. He had no experience with leading anything either, so he didn't even _try_ to put in his two-cents when ever something important came up after the wedding. Besides, Ming's been ruling Numara for over 1,000 years, she should have everything under control anyway. In fact, he was surprised that any of the citizens remembered that he's married to their queen, especially considering that he only wears casual attire when he leaves the palace.

"Excuse me, your majesty." A voice says. Jansen looks away from the window to see the guard standing in the doorway. He steps away from the windowsill and half-turns towards him as a signal to continue with what he has to say. "A _Kaim Argonar_ and two children requested to see you. Shall I send them away?"

"No, no. Send them up here, please." Says the king.

The guard bows and leaves the room. A few minutes later, he returns with the guests. Jansen thanks and dismisses the guard and invites the three to sit at the table in the middle of the room.

"Everything been alright with the mansion lately?" He asks.

"Yeah," Kaim reassures.

"You sure? None of those hand ghosts reading books in the study? No possessed knight armors jumping on the beds? No sudden cases of floating-house?"

Kaim smirked his oh-so rare smirk and shook his head.

A small frown comes across the king's face, he was hoping there was some kind of trouble. Ever since they defeated Gongora, there's been no reason to go adventuring again, and he was getting unbearably antsy. Nobody's even been willing to go to the Crimson Forest with him! And it wasn't like the guards - or should he say, _Ming_ \- would let him go alone! He supposes that since everyone else in the old group - unlike him - had always gone on adventures or traveled to some exotic lands their entire lives, they're taking advantage of the currently world-wide peace. Unsurprisingly, working as a simple messenger for a "councilman" was an undeniably boring living before what he calls the _"Grand Expedition" _took place - save for the occasional uncontrollably wild drinking binge.

That seemingly endless quest he endured was without-a-doubt the best time of his life - despite all the countless near-death-experiences - and he wishes it could have lasted forever. But just like everything else in his life, it didn't.

Well. . . except for _a few_ things. . .

Sensing the discomfort of his guests from his long moment of silence, he clears his throat and asks, "So, what did you need?"

"We're looking for a treasure!" Cooke says excitedly.

"Yeah!" Mack says, jumping from his chair, "And it's a black magic spell!"

Jansen smiled, '_I guess this meeting really isn't a bust, then._' He thought.

"We're not sure exactly what it's supposed to do." Kaim says, "But we've heard a few things about it that lead us to believe it's very powerful. Sarah and I have done some tracking for a while, and we've concluded that it's somewhere inside Terrace Cave."

"Oh yeah?" The king inquires, "You don't know anything else about it?"

"Well," Cooke starts, "From what we've heard, we think it has something to do with weather, or something. . ."

Disappointment washes over Jansen, '_Just an elemental spell_?' He thought, '_I mean they** can** be powerful, it's just that their not that **unique** or** interesting **or **impressive **or **new**_. . .' He didn't let it get to him though, an adventure with a bad payoff is better than no adventure at all!

"When do we leave?" He asks

The children smile. "Let's go now!" They say in unison.

Kaim frowns at their over-eagerness. "We can't just take him now. We need to give him time to make arrangements with Ming and the guards before we take him with us."

"Nonsense!" Jansen says. "There isn't much going on lately! And besides, Ming's got everything under control!"

The immortal raises an eyebrow at the mage's unusual excitement, but then he nods and stands up. "Alright then. Let's not keep Sed and Tolten waiting for long."

Jansen almost frowns again. It was needless to say that he wasn't too fond of the gold-encrusted king _or_ the elderly pirate. Sed was almost exactly like his mother in every way, and Tolten - well, Jansen didn't want to say he was an out-of-touch snob, but he felt that the blonde took too long to grow up. Hell, he's _still_ not convinced that he's grown up! '_All well_,' He thought, '_Beggars can't be choosers_.'

He dismisses himself briefly to change into his old traveling robes. He couldn't help but notice that they were a bit looser than he remembered, perhaps because he no longer prepared his own meals, _and_ the fact that Ming's been making him hold out on the alcohol for a while.

Before returning back to Kaim and the kids, he writes a quick note to his wife and leaves it on their lovely bed.

* * *

Jansen's first thought when he enters the Nautilus for the first time in years is how much he didn't miss riding in it. How these people he used to travel with could stand being aboard was a mystery to him.

After a brief 'hello' with the two of his least favorite traveling partners, he strides down the row of small bedrooms and stops at the very last one. Though it wasn't different from the others, for some reason, it was his favorite. To his dismay, however, he sees three people conversing as the door opens. '_Right,_' He thought, '_He has a crew_.'

One of the pirates stops speaking mid-sentence and looks at him. His face is blank for a few moments, then a smile lights up his face. "Hey! You're the king of Numara!" He yelled excitedly.

Jansen didn't reply. He simply stood there, shocked that anyone, let alone a random pirate, would recognize him as the king of the nation of pacifists. He didn't know whether to be flattered by the recognition, or angry that someone of an unknown origin would know his face better than the people of his own land.

But neither option seemed suitable when the pirate said, "So, uh, if you're riding with us, does that mean the queen's here too?!"

He frowned. '_Oh yeah,_' The king thought, '_I remember this guy. The over-zealous fanatic guy. What's his name? Ganjo? Gamlen_?'

At that moment Sed walked by the door and noticed the close proximity between his guest and his unruly shipmate. "Gondy, leave the man alone! The queen's not coming with us, alright?!"

Gondy recoils in fear of punishment and proceeds to throw apologies at both Jansen and his captain.

"Uh, i-it's fine." The king says as he backs out of the room. '_Let's add another thing to the list of what I hate about this trip: more pirates_.'

Not wanting to interact with anymore of Sed's strange followers, he settles on sitting around in the cockpit with the not-so-little-anymore kids until night. The crew members come and go every now and then, trying to strike up a conversation with him. But he respectfully turns them away as quick as he possibly can. One pirate, however, was exceptionally persistent in trying to get him to talk about his wife and had to be scolded by the captain of the ship several times before he gave up. At some point, he started talking to the twins. He asked about their studies, their magic skills, the mansion. He noticed how much of a man Mack is starting to become, and how lovely Cooke is acting now. It's almost unbelievable that it's only been five years since he last saw them.

Night comes very soon and Jansen is quick to become drowsy, but everyone else seems just as lively as they were hours ago._ 'At least** that** hasn't changed_.' He thinks. It was no question that he was the one with the least endurance of the group, even now. Without a word, he waddles tiredly to the last room once again and is happy to see that no one is inside. He kicks off his boots and silently lays down on one of the bottom bunks.

Back in the cockpit, Kaim and Tolten stand beside each other, leaning against the guardrails of the overseeing platform. Cooke and Mack occupy the seats on either side of Sed at the control panel.

"Kaim," Tolten says, "How long did you know Jansen before I met you in that cave?"

"Not long. We first met when he was giving me the message to go to Gongora's estate. That was the day before we left to check on the Grand Staff."

A small frown comes across the blonde's face, "I see. . . I only ever saw Jansen a few times whenever I went to visit Gongora. We never talked, but he always gave me a strange look. . ." He goes quiet.

"Why are you wondering about Jansen so suddenly?" Kaim asks.

"Well. . . I've actually _always_ wondered about him. I was just hoping that you knew something. Haven't you ever noticed how little we know of him? And it's also kind of strange that I know plenty about the rest of you, but nothing about _him_. I can practically list the most important details of each of your lives from before we even met, but not Jansen's."

"Hmm." Kaim thinks silently for a few moments. In that time, he realizes that his young friend is right. He also knows a lot about all of their companions, except for Jansen. "He never talked about himself, and we haven't met anyone that's known him, which is even stranger considering the type of person he is. . ."

"Do you think he'd be fine with us asking him about himself?" Tolten inquires.

"We'll see," Kaim answers, "In the morning, before we enter the cave."

* * *

Ming removed the clip in her hair and gives a relaxed sigh as the pressure on her scalp fades away. She had had a long day of revitalizing the magic barrier around the edges of Tosca village that keeps the wandering monsters from the Black Cave away, and was not looking forward to doing the same with the village port of Samon the following day.

But that ache in her neck shall stay out of her mind until the time comes, right now, she's ready to return to her chambers and _unwind_ with her husband.

However, she's quite annoyed when she finds herself scowling at an empty room. Usually, Jansen would be laying splayed out on the bed, relaxing. It only figures that one of the very few times that she has nothing on her mind but to_ bond_ with her husband, he's not around. She let's out a huff, and immediately mentally scolds herself for doing something so childish. It's then that she notices a piece of parchment on top of one of the pillows on their bed. She snatches it up with more ferocity than she intended and quickly skims through it.

"Oh dear. . ." Ming whispers to herself as worry overtakes her.

How she wished that Jansen had written where they were headed, then maybe she could prevent him from being hurt. Yes, it was a bit selfish of her to not allow him to go traveling through the years they've been married. But with what she learned of him, she felt completely justified to keep him in a circle of safety! Well, not _completely_, but. . .

She sighs and says to herself, "He's not a child, Ming, he's handled himself his whole life, he can handle himself for this trip."


	2. First Attempt

_"Jansen, have you delivered that message to Chairman Roxian yet?" Master Gongora asks me._

_"Yes sir." I mumble_

_"Did he give you an answer?" He asks._

_"Yes sir. He said he shall call the council together to discuss it in three days."_

_"Good. . ."_

_Keeping my head low, I lie down on the couch. Master looks at me strangely, I think he can see my distress._

_"Boy, what is troubling you?" He asks. But I don't answer. He is too busy for my nontrivial problems. "Answer me, Boy. You've not been this reclusive since you'd first started working for me."_

_"I. . . I failed at learning that spell. It-"_

**_Don't talk to it._**

_What was that? It. . . It sounded like me. But why? What. . .  
_

_"Boy?" Master says._

_"Sir, I-"_

**_He's dead. This isn't real._**

_I suddenly find myself standing in front of Master Gongora. But how? I was on the couch just a second ago. __My body starts to feel a bit heavier, and I find myself becoming on-level with Gongora as I grow taller. The room grows darker and metallic-looking. Sort of like. . . like the inside of Sed's ship._

_I frown. "I see. It's just another dream."_

_"What do you mean, boy?"_

Before Jansen can answer his former employer, his eyes shoot open to see the cold, metal ceiling of the Nautilus. He lies there, still, for a very long time. "It's been over five years Jansen, pull yourself together." He whispers to himself.

Eventually, the king rises from his bed and rubs away the sleep from his face. At that moment, the door slides open to reveal Kaim. He remains silent for a moment to give Jansen a chance to fully awaken. When the mage finally let's out an overly-dramatic sigh after tying up his hair, Kaim says, "We've arrived."

Jansen let's out a "Hm?" in slight confusion. Then he remembered, '_Right, Terrace Cave_.' He adjusts his robes a bit before following Kaim out into the cockpit. The crew members are loitering about while everyone else waits at the exit to the ship.

"Alright everyone," Kaim says as he addresses the group of friends, "You all remember how we do this: five at a time. Who wants to be the first one to stay behind?"

"The first _one_?" One of Sed's crew asks. Jansen remembers him as the pirate they found while they were at the Kelolon forest. "If we were doin' only five at time, there'd be like-"

"You guys are staying on the ship." The captain says nonchalantly.

His entire crew seems to be taken aback by this previously-unknown information. '_What, they actually thought they'd fight monsters with_ us?' Jansen thought, '_I mean, I know they're pirates, I know they've traveled to all kinds of dangerous places, but just look at them! They're a bunch of bumbling idiots! They'll just get in our way_!'

"B-But captain! I thought all that practicin' we been doin' was so we could go into the cave wit'cha!" The same pirate says.

"_No_, it was so you guys could be prepared if the ship got attacked while we're gone. Besides, Orly, you couldn't even handle a couple of _Kelolons_ on your own!" The crewman in question hangs his head down and leans against a wall in embarrassment. "And on top of that, whichever one of us who decides to stay back is gonna be in charge. Got it?" His underlings are completely dumbstruck. Out of all of the things that could've happened during the trip, getting left behind to guard the ride - while being overseen by someone who wasn't even part of the crew, nonetheless - was the very _last_ thing they thought they'd end up doing! Especially since it was _their_ captain who was leading the exploration!

. . . At least, that's what they _thought_. . .

"I suppose I could stay back first." Says Tolten.

"Alright then, let's go." Kaim says as he takes a step out of the opening of the ship.

"W-Wait a minute!" Cooke calls out to her grandfather. He stops mid-stride and glances back at her. "Um, can we have something to eat first please?" At that moment, everyone else on the ship realizes the emptiness in their stomachs.

"I guess it would be a little wiser to eat before we leave." Kaim says with a smirk.

In no time at all, Sed passes out some of the travel rations to everyone and they all settle themselves comfortably around the deck. Kaim, Tolten and Jansen sit together at the overseeing platform quietly.

". . . Hey, Tolten," Jansen says when the silence finally becomes unbearable for him, "How did you get to come on this trip? I mean, the monarchy is still in place, right?" He asks.

"Ah, yes, sort of. I've made an agreement with the council that was in place from before the. . ." He trails off as discomfort rises in the pit of his stomach. "Anyway, the agreement states that they'll be in control whenever I'm away from Uhra or out of commission."

Jansen raises a brow at this. From his experience, every one of the members of the council seemed to hold a great vendetta against the monarchy that stood before the republic that they'd believed was working so well. And personally, from what he could remember about the monarchy, Jansen somewhat agreed with the council. But he supposes that Tolten has been doing pretty well so far, considering the time in which he was _tricked_ into reestablishing the monarchy. Although, it still seems a bit risky to give the councilmen such a high degree of trust, in Jansen's opinion.

"Anyway, enough of that." He continues, "I have a question for you."

"Hmm?" Jansen raises an eyebrow.

The next few moments are filled with silence as the mage waits for the younger king to continue. Tolten seems to be choked-up on his words, debating on how and _if_ he should say what he's thinking. Would Jansen take offense to the sudden interrogation? Would he get upset or uncomfortable? Would even say anything at all?

A sigh is released from behind the two and Kaim rests a hand on Tolten's shoulder. "We both have a question for you, actually." He says.

At this, Jansen starts to become uneasy. What exactly are these two up to?

"We were just wondering. . ." Tolten finally says, "What did you do before we met you. . .?"

Confusion crosses the mage's face, "Oh. . . Is, uh, that all? Well, I could've sworn you guys already knew this, but I was just an errand-boy for Gongora."

"We know that," Kaim says with a grumble in his voice, "But what did you do _before_ that?"

The mage goes stiff. He clenches his jaw, his eyes become icy and distant, and his mouth forms a perfect line of distraught. '_Where did this come from?!_' He thinks as panic begins to take over his body. No one in their troupe had ever shown interest in his past before! Well, Ming did, but she didn't ask about it until _after_ they got married. And even then, she was very lenient in her persistence when it became evident that he wasn't comfortable speaking about his past.

Not wanting to cause concern in his comrades, he swallows the lump forming in his throat and opens his mouth to speak, "W-Why do you ask?" He mumbles lowly.

"We just want to know." Tolten says, "You're the only one in our group whose life we know practically nothing about!"

"We're all friends here, Jansen," Kaim adds, "We should be able to know as much about you as _you_ do _us_, don't you think?"

'_Really Kaim?! You're gonna pull _that_ card on me?!_' Jansen thinks. "I-I guess that's fair. . ." He starts, "But it's just. . . I mean, I didn't really ever do much, you know? There isn't much _to_ me!" The other two men only stare at him, obviously not accepting his attempt at making them lose interest. "Come on guys! What do you want me to say?! I was a really simple kind of guy, just like I am now!"

"Well, do you have any family?" Tolten asks.

"Y-Yeah. . .?"

"You don't sound sure." Kaim says, his features softening as he begins to analyze his friend's behavior more thoroughly, "Have you not heard from them lately?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"Why not?" Tolten chimes in again, "Are you having some sort of dispute with them? Are they missing. . .?" His eyes suddenly become sad and hollow, "Do you. . . Do you even know who they _are_. . .?"

Jansen is very tempted to roll his eyes at the last question. Honestly, orphans are the second to most common in Uhra out of all of the nations, yet the blonde king was on the verge of tearing up at the thought of his friend being one of them! "Yeah, yeah, I know who my parents are! Relax!" He says, giving the boy a reassuring pat on the back.

"Then what's the problem?" Kaim asks.

An exasperated groan escapes the mage's mouth. The immortal's bullheadedness can be a real pain sometimes. "We just haven't talked much for a while!"

"For _how long_, exactly? Was it because of what happened five years ago, or did something else happen since then?"

"No, no! It has nothing to do with five years ago! I stopped talking to them _long_ before that!"

"But why?" Tolten asks.

"Ugh!" Jansen groans. He's had it with all of this prodding! And if he hears one more question out of the two, he's going to have to let loose a few Levelers! "Are guys done eating yet?! I'm ready to go! Is it time to go?! I'm ready to _go_!"

Tolten frowns. "But Jansen-"

"No." Kaim says curtly, cutting off the blonde king. "Jansen's right, we should get going." As much as Kaim wants to get to know Jansen, he also doesn't want his friend to become uncomfortable around them any more than he already has. Kim had noticed how disgruntled the mage had gotten the moment he'd asked about what he'd done before meeting Gongora, but he'd continued to question him in hopes that the other would loosen-up. But, as he can now see, that's not happening. '_No_,' He thought, '_The best thing to do is wait a while. Maybe we came on a bit too strong_? _We'll have to do better the next time we get the chance_.'

With everyone's hunger satiated, Kaim gathers together the first team of their expedition: Mack, Cooke, Sed, Jansen and himself. It's almost laughable how Sed's crew is glaring at Tolten as they leavethe Nautilus. Honestly, Kaim wonders how in the world these pirates ever survived such a dangerous life with their childish behavior. No time to ponder it now though, it's time to explore this damp, dark cave. Strangely enough, however, Terrace Cave appears to be a bit darker than they'd remembered. . .

Hopefully those _damn_ silver Kelolons have moved out. . .

* * *

Ming sighs for the tenth time this morning as she sullenly picks at her breakfast. No matter how hard she tries, she can't help but worry over her husband's well being. She has to constantly remind herself that, once again, Jansen is a full-grown-man, and _has_ been for a while. Remind herself that he was doing just fine before _she_ came along and could do just as well as before, now. At this point, she fears she might stay tense like this for the entirety of her husband's absence.

"My Queen." Says a guard standing in the doorway of the dining hall. "There's a '_Sarah Sisulart'_ requesting to visit with you. Shall I send her in?"

Ming gasps lightly. Wonderful! Now she has a distraction from her concerns! "Yes, please do that." She says a bit louder than she intended. She welcomes her long-time friend as she enters. "Please, have a seat." She says as Sarah draws near. The other mage smiles thankfully and sits beside the queen after a servant removes her plate from the table.

"Good morning, Ming." Her guest says, offering her a smile.

"Good morning, Sarah." The queen replies, giving a smile of her own. "May I ask, what brings you here so suddenly? And shouldn't you be with everyone else on that _expedition_?"

Sarah raises a brow, her eyes widening slightly. "Ah, yes," She starts, "That black magic spell. I _would_ have gone, but then I figured it would be much more helpful if I'd stayed behind so I could get a head start on researching more treasures for us to look for." She puts a hand up to her tightened lips, gazing nervously at her hostess. "How did you hear about that?" She whispers.

A small frown crosses Ming's lips. "Jansen left me a note. . ." She clenches her left hand resting upon her lap into a fist, releasing a short, aggravated grunt, "Was I not supposed to know about this?"

Her guest folds her fingers together and looks away shyly. "Dammit Kaim." She whispers.

"Pardon me?" Ming says, her patience growing thin.

"It's just," Sarah starts, ". . . Remember last month? When you told me about how you never have enough time to_ be with_ Jansen? How you've been busy with _work_ and how _distant _Jansen's been acting? How whenever you both get back to the castle, you're too tired _to_. . .?"

A blush makes its way onto the queen's face. "Yes, I do. . ."

"For that very reason, I specifically told Kaim _not_ to bring Jansen along with them!" Her dainty tone shifts into one of aggravation as she rubs a tense hand across her forehead.

"I-I appreciate the effort," Says Ming as her embarrassment rises a few more notches, "But you really shouldn't have gone through the trouble-"

"Oh, no no! It's my pleasure to help you two out with _that_. Well, it _was_ my pleasure." Sarah lets out a puff of air and puts her hand back down onto the table. "Remind me to throw a few tomes at Kaim's face when they return, please."

This earns a laugh from her hostess. "_You'll_ have to remind _me_ as well."

The two laugh in unison at their future bout of violence.

As their amusement dies down, a frown resettles itself onto her face. It seems that she just can't escape her worrisome nature."I just wish I could stop worrying about him, just for one minute."

Sarah cocks an eyebrow at this. "Worrying about _Jansen_?" She asks, "What is there to worry about? I mean, I know he's not as hardened or masculine as the other men, but he's certainly shown that he's able to protect himself."

"I know, I know." Ming says, annoyed with hearing her friend say what she's been telling herself all night and morning. "It's just that," She starts, ". . . Ever since he opened up to me about himself, I've just been so overprotective of him."

The guest tilts her head slightly to the side. Before, Ming had her curiosity, now she has her attention. "Why would you feel that way? Did something terrible happen earlier in his life?"

The queen hangs her head down in guilt for so obviously hinting at something so personal. . . But she needs to vent out this frustration! "It's more like. . ." She gives herself one more mental scolding on how terrible she's being before continuing on, "More like all of his life up until he met Kaim."

"Oh dear." Sarah whispers, "How bad?"

Ming just looks at her, brows furrowed in disappointment of herself.

Sarah's eyes shine with semi-understanding. "_Very_ bad. . .?"

She frowns before opening her mouth and finally, shamefully, relaying the story of her husband to her guest.

"As a boy, he. . ."


	3. The First Glimpse

"Oh my!" Sarah gasps, "Poor Jansen. . ."

Of course, it isn't the most tragic story she's heard in her over a thousand years on this planet. However, she _definitely_ didn't expect one of her current companions to have had a life such as what she was told. More surprisingly, _Jansen_.

"I-Is there more to it?" Sarah questions in a whisper.

Ming furrows her brows at her guest. "What do you mean by that?" She asks.

The queen's guest looks away, adjusting her glasses to try to build up the courage to ask what she's about to ask. "I mean. . ." She starts, "It sounds like he might have held something back when he told you about that. Like there are worse parts of the story that he's not willing to tell. . ."

Ming is speechless. She'd not even considered the possibility that Jansen might have withheld some of the story. She'd figured that once her husband finally built up the courage and confidence to reveal his past to, he'd reveal his _entire_ past.

"Well. . ." The queen says quietly, "I-I suppose that some parts of his story _did_ have some open spaces in it. . . I. . ."

Sarah clears her throat when she senses her friend's discomfort. "Never mind," She says, "I shouldn't have mentioned it."

"No, no. It's alright. I had actually had a feeling that there was_ something_ strange about his story when he told me, I suppose I just didn't want to think he would lie to me or hide something from me to such an extent. Or maybe I was just so satisfied to know, or at least think I know, about his life prior to our marriage. . .?"

"My queen." Comes a voice from outside the open dining room door. The two women look over at the guard in acknowledgement. "It is time to depart to Samon."

"Ah," Ming gasps. That's right, she was supposed to work on revitalizing the magical barrier around the village port of Samon today, same as she did to Tosca village yesterday. "Prepare the boat, I will be down in just a moment."

The guard bows and walks off.

"It was good talking to you again, Sarah." She says as they stand together.

"It's the same for me, to you." The guest replies quietly, "And please, Ming, try not to let this get in between you _royal scepter_."

Ming stops in her tracks and gives his friend a questioning look. "_'Royal scepter?'_ Sarah, I don't have a royal scepter, you know this. . ."

Sarah gives the taller woman a sly smirk and giggles quietly.

After standing silently in place for a few moments, the queen's cheeks light up and starts to push loose locks of hair out of her face in an attempt to re-gather her composure. "Sarah. . . Honestly. . ." She whispers. But her good friend only giggles more.

* * *

Jansen groans quietly as he watches the shiny retreating back of the croaking enemy. '_Damn Silver Kelolon bastards_!' He thinks, '_Why the hell do they even start a fight if they're just gonna run away as soon as we start attacking_?!' With one more annoyed groan, he follows suit with everyone else in the group and relaxes from his battle stance (that was hardly in place to begin with).

They're completely stumped at this point. They've swept through the entirety of the cave three times over already, and yet, they've not found a single sign that this cave has even the slightest trace of what they're looking for. The leader of the pack had insisted over and over that they were in the correct place, but even _he_ has lost his confidence.

"Maybe Sarah misinterpreted the translation. . .?" Kaim says more to himself as they begin their fourth loop about the watery cave, "Maybe it's in that cave we were frozen in? What was the name of that one again?"

"C'mon!" Sed yells, "We can't just give up on this spot so easily!. . . Hey, what exactly did that whatever-the-hell ancient script of holy-holiness say about it anyway?" He asks.

Kaim stops in his tracks, thinking. The rest of his group follows his lead and look at him expectantly. ". . . It said something like, _'behold a past buried in the dark of the cave of moisture, and gold. There, the darkness will burst into a path of ether. . .'"_ The stoic man looks down at the ground silently, then looks back up. "There's more after that, but it goes on for a while. . ."

_'. . . Buried in the dark of the cave of moisture and gold. . .'_ Jansen thinks, _'Maybe. . .'_

"Maybe we need to do something in the darkest part of the cave?" He suggest.

Everyone looks at him with surprise plastered on their faces., Jansen's idea was pretty. . . _good_, and the rest of the group wasn't expecting him to come up with something like that at all, let alone be the _only_ one to some up with something!

"Good thinking. . ." Sed says, finally breaking the silence that settles over the group. ". . . _Your Majesty_."

The king groans quietly at the nickname that's _supposed_ to belong to the_ younger_ king._ 'Now I **really** don't like the both of you.'_ He thinks.

The team begins to search around the cave once again. After encountering a few more Silver Kelolons - **all** of which proceeded to flee from battle _immediately_ \- they find themselves staring at a densely shadowed area underneath one of the rocky paths on the far end.

"This should be it, then." Kaim mumbles lowly. They approach the darkness, growing more and more weary with each step they take. Now fully engulfed in the shadow, the group takes a good look around the area and finds nothing outstanding or noteworthy enough to investigate more closely - the only exception being a chest, which they remembered to have opened themselves, _after_ some arguing.

"Damn!" Jansen curses, "Stuck again! What now?!" He's really starting to reach the end of his chain at this point. He came with his old group on this trip in hopes for a satisfying adventure, and they can't go any further than this?! The king looks over at companions with a scowl on his face and sees that they're just as disappointed as he.

"Kaim. . .?" Mack says to his grandfather. "Maybe you should try saying what you said earlier again?"

Kaim stares at the young man for a moment before he looks down at the ground and tries to recall the passage he recited from before. "_'. . . In the dark of the cave of moisture and gold. There, the darkness will burst into a path of ether. . .'_" He suddenly snaps his head up and looks at the black mage. "Maybe you need to cast a spell, Jansen."

The king raises an eyebrow at the suggestion. He agrees that having him cast a spell would make sense in this case - seeing as how the spell they're hunting for is supposedly a black magic spell. But what spell would be appropriate to cast. . .? "Hm. . . Well, it did use the word 'burst'." He thinks, "Maybe I need to use my most explosive spell?"

"Alright," He says out loud, "Stand back!"

The group steps away from the mage and brace themselves. He stands his staff upright in front of him and grips it tightly with one hand. Leaning into the weapon, he brings his other hand up as the air around him begins to shimmer and radiate with a pale blue aura. The energy surrounding the area starts to tremble as it quickly crowds into his body, making him tremble as well. He stays, concentrating on the spell like this for just a few more moments before his occupied hand shoots backward and thrusts his empty hand forward, casting the spell.

The darkness in front of him becomes _completely_ devoid of all light, turning it into a total dark abyss. Then, a giant, colorful orb forms high above him, expanding at an alarming rate. With an orange beam shooting out from its sides, countless, multicolored rays of light shoot down in front of Jansen, _just_ far enough to not touch him. The rays meet a bright seal that had formed as the orb the did with a violent impact that causes the entirety of the dark abyss to shake. Four more, _smaller_ seals form above the first as the rays of color continue pounding into it. Finally, one more ray of light, white in color and bigger than all the other rays put together, hits the largest seal with a furious tremor, and the darkness explodes into a blinding white, thus completing the _Leveler_ spell.

* * *

_A__ young, brunetee-haired boy digs a jagged stick deeply into a hard dirt patch packed tightly atop the golden paved streets of Uhra. It's nighttime, and the boy is not allowed to go back into the house until his mother's final customer of the evening leaves The man is a regular of his mother's, and he usually doesn't finish up until his father returns from work._

_Suddenly, a short, hollow 'bang' followed by his mother's shriek comes from the house._

_His mind no longer tries to make excuses when he hears the sounds coming from inside the tiny house - he'd finally decided to see for himself what was going on one day and snuck into the house and peeked into his parent's bedroom while his mother was working. Needless to say, he wishes that that he hadn't indulged his curiosity, because now he **can't** deny the accusations from the man that often stumble by - and sometimes, **into** \- his house from the local tavern at night._

_His ears perk up when the noises from inside the house finally stop. After a few moments, the customer steps out with a hearty laugh erupting loudly from his ale-drenched mouth. "I swear boy," He starts as his drunken laughter dies down, "Your mother _really_ knows how to treat a man!"_

_The boy just stares at him blankly - whether it's because he isn't smart enough to respond or even **understand** the innuendo behind the man's remark, or whether he'd just grown numb to all of the comments that came from his mother's patrons after they partook in her services, isn't clear at this point._

_As the customer is opening his mouth to say something even more suggestive to the child, the voice of the boy's father calls out to the man, "Is she still good for you, Thomas?!" _

_"As good as always!" The man responds with another hearty laugh as he turns on his heel to walks off into the night._

_". . . Get in the house. boy." The father says curtly after the customer is out of sight. The boy silently follows him inside, not wanting to upset the man. The mother is counting gold bits from a small money purse at the dinner table as they enter. Her auburn hair is frizzy and tangled and her beady brown eyes are focused on the money in front of her._

_Finally, she looks up at her husband, the whites of her eyes bloodshot from the drinks she'd had earlier in the night. "I only made five hundred this month." Her voice is low and strained in quiet anger._

_He husband growls quietly, responding with, "And **I** only made 750." He removes his own gold purse from his waist band a takes another, **larger** one from a high cabinet above the ice box. The man empties the contents of his purse into the larger bag and his wife does the same._

_"We need to get help with all this if we can even **dream** of being able to keep living in this country." The mother says before tucking her purse into her dress. Then she continues with, "We have** two** bedrooms in this damned house and only **one** is being used! And you could make so much more of that powder with another person helping!"_

_Her husband groans and plops himself down on a chair. "We've talked about this, woman, we would have to **pay** those people if we hired them! We'd probably end up making even less on our end!"_

_His wife, in her frustration, picks up a mug from atop the cutting board and throws it at her husband. He easily ducks out of the way, but it doing that, his son takes the hit instead. The boy let out a pained gasp upon impact and falls backward into the wall behind him. He quickly scrambles onto his knees and over to his bedroom, shielding himself with the shadow casted by the door as he continues to listen in on the argument._

_"Alright the, fine!" She yells as she finally reaches her breaking point, "If we **don't** get help," His mother yells, poking his father hard into his chest. "Then we can't make up the money in time, and get kicked out. And, if we **do** get help, we'll have to split up the money, somehow "make less," and **still** get kicked out! Unless we can find someone who's stupid enough to work without pay, we got nothing! So," She slams her hands down on the table violently onto the table, "What do **you** suggest?!"_

_The room is silent. The couple only glare at each other to fill the stillness of the room. The man opens his mouth at one point, but shuts it just as quickly. His wife looks at him expectantly, refusing to move away until he his mouth relays what he was going to say._

_With a sigh, the man opens his mouth once more and says, "What about the boy?"_


End file.
